Priest steps in between husband-wife fight, wheeled out with bullet injury

75-year-old Bala Datt Tiwari was trying to pacify a quarrelling couple when the man fired at his wife from a country-made pistol. Bullet went through Tiwari’s cheek and got lodged in his ear

dehradunUpdated: Nov 28, 2017 19:36 IST

Mohan Rajput

Hindustan Times

Doctors in Haldwani said Bala Datt Tiwari is out of danger. (AFP/REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

When Bala Datt Tiwari agreed to perform a puja on Monday at the residence of a Sitarganj couple, he was expecting a good dakshina (payment). After all, Chandan Singh Basnal and wife Saraswati Devi wanted to perform some rituals that would pave the way for their daughter’s wedding on December 1.

Little did Tiwari know that the puja would instead nearly cost him his life.

The 75-year-old priest was wheeled out of the Basnals’ residence in an ambulance, a bullet fired from a country-made pistol stuck in his ear having made its way there after passing though his cheek.

The shot was fired allegedly by Basnal. The target was his wife Saraswati, police officials later said.

It all began when Basnals called Tiwari, a resident of Hathi Khana, to their residence to perform rituals prior to the wedding of their daughter Manju. The wedding is scheduled on December 1 at Devidura temple in Champawat.

As Tiwari began performing the rituals, an argument started between Basnal and his wife. It soon turned heated. Seeing this, the priest stepped in to pacify the couple. Even as Tiwari was talking to the couple, an infuriated Basnal fished out a country-made pistol and fired, aiming for his wife. The bullet, however, hit Tiwari in the face, passing through his cheek before getting lodged in his ear.

Tiwari was taken to a local government hospital where doctors referred him to another hospital in Haldwani.

BS Bhakuni, inspector of Sitarganj police station, said that no complaint had been lodged in this regard till the filing of the report. However, police have started searching for Basnal who is absconding.